Day 6: Survival of the Fittest
by M. Dobbs
Summary: For years, a group of German terrorists have been planning an attack on America. But, in order for it to suceed, they first need to get one man out of the way: Jack Bauer. Please read and review! A subtitle was added to the story, but it is the same story
1. Episode 1

A/N: I'm sorry that this is not a very interesting title, forgive me, I will try to come up with a better one later. I've made some alterations to this chapter, because I recieved a review (thank you Basicmoista) informing me of a small logic error. Please review, you have no idea how happy review make me...

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything from 24 I (sadly) do not own it. If you recognize anything else (like the personality of your great-aunt) there must be some creepy coincidence. Basically, please don't sue. :)

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**Day 6**  
The following takes place from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM. Berlin, Germany. 

The dark haired man pushed back his chair and stood up. The two men across from him stood up as well. One was short, stocky, and fair haired with wide set, dark blue eyes. He stood with his lower jaw thrust out and his eyes narrowed as if thinking. The man across from him reached into the inside pocket of his red coat and handed the man two revolvers. The fair-haired man turned and handed one to the man sitting next to him, his partner. The man who accepted the revolver was about six feet tall with dark hair and eyes. The two men turned back to face the red-coat man.

"Well, you know what to do…," the man said gravely, "everything will work exactly as planned." He continued in a tone which clearly dared the other two men to challenge him.

"Of course, boss." The taller man answered silkily.

"For years, we've lived and planned for this day," red coat man started, "Today Jack Bauer, and the American people, shall be destroyed."

**Commercial Break**

Chloe O'Brian scowled at the road. She was going to be late. Chloe hated to be late; among her many issues, she had an issue about being late. She arrived promptly at 7:30 at work everyday. She glanced on the clock of the dashboard of her blue Prius: 7:15. Damn. She was going to be late. She bit her lip, and glared at the slow-moving vehicle in front of her. She hit the steering wheel with the heel of her hand. She was so close to CTU; she could almost see Audrey Raines's blue Prius. Chloe had been amused to find out that she and Audrey drove the same kind of car. Go figure. The traffic cleared. Chloe accelerated, and soon she was the only person on the road that led into the city.

Suddenly she slammed her hand against her forehead: she had forgotten both her CTU identification card and her cell phone. She mentally kicked herself for always sliding her CTU card into her flip cell phone. She glanced into her rearview mirror, trying to decide whether to turn around and go back to her apartment. Chloe noticed and black SUV with shaded windows moving coming towards her from behind. She waited for it to pass so she could turn around. Suddenly it swerved so it was next to her and forcer her small car off the road. The last thing Chloe remembered was feeling the wheels of her car lifting off the road as she hurtled over the embankment.

**Commercial Break**

Audrey Raines squinted at the hourlies from the L.A.P.D. on her computer screen, scanning them for anything that seemed important. She noticed a shadow fall over her and looked up.

"Hey Jack." She smiled into the face of her lover.

"Hey Audrey. Listen, have you seen Chloe anywhere?" Jack asked.

"No," Audrey replied, glanced automatically to Chloe's vacant workstation, "I know that she's always punctual, but she's only five minutes late right now, so she's probably just stuck in some traffic."

"Yeah," Jack said, "well, if you see her, ask her to come find me, I just need to talk about some satellite feed stuff."

"Sure." Audrey promised.

"Thanks." As Jack walked away, Audrey glanced at Chloe's empty workstation again and frowned. It wasn't like Chloe to be late; Audrey didn't like it. She turned back to scan the hourlies, this time looking for any reports of a car crash involving a woman with blondish-brown hair and a blue Prius. It was ironic, Audrey thought, that that sentence described her as much as it described Chloe. For a fleeting second she glanced back at Chloe's empty workstation. Maybe all her years at CTU were catching up with her, maybe she was being paranoid or overreacting, but Audrey didn't like it at all.

**Commercial Break**

The black SUV skidded to a stop, and two black-clothed men leaped out. The blond-brown haired woman was slumped unconscious over the dashboard of the car.

"Grab her legs." One of her captors ordered. The other man grunted in response and picked up her feet. The other man hauled her up by the arms, and, with a furtive glance around them, dragged her to the waiting black SUV. The doors slammed shut, and captors and captive sped off.

"Jack," Jack turned to find an anxious looking Audrey tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Jack asked, wondering if Chloe had arrived, and why Chloe wasn't telling him herself, "Is she here?"

"No," Audrey cried, "there's no report of an accident of anything. Jack, do you think something has happened?"

"Don't worry Audrey, she's probably just caught in really heavy rush hour traffic."

"But if she was in traffic, she would call wouldn't she?"

"Well…yeah," Jack admitted, "Look, if she's not here within the hour, I'll have the local police department start searching for her."

"OK." Audrey agreed.

Chloe opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't; she had a splitting headache. Gently, she closed her eyes. Then, as if registering what she was seeing, her eyes flew open again. Her eyebrows raised as she took in the sight around her. She seemed to be in a room of some sort with a chicken-wire type fence for a door, in some sort of warehouse or storeroom. And, she swallowed hard, there was a guard with a large gun sitting outside the gate. Everything was slowly coming back to her. CTU…the black SUV…the crash…The guard noticed she was awake and left. He returned with a tall man with dark hair and pale blue eyes.

"I see our guest has woken up." Chloe glared at the man who had spoken, whishing she felt as tough as she was pretending.

"Well, stand up, don't just sit there! Oh, my apologies, you _can't_…you're bound and gagged." He spoke the whole sentence barley concealing a sarcastic grin. She was indeed bound and gagged, and propped clumsily against the wall.

"You're lover-boy should be on his way to rescue you." The man leered. Chloe choked. She also had noticed that he spoke with a slight German accent. She tried to memorize all of his features so she could tell Jack later. But this man's last comment had startled her: lover-boy? What? Did he know anything about her dismal love life?

"Yes," the man continued, obviously pleased with the effect his words had on Chloe, "your sweetheart Jack Bauer should be walking into this trap soon." Chloe's eyes grew wide with utter confusion.

"Oh don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," the man prepared to deliver his final blow, "Ms. Audrey Raines."

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Whether you liked it or not, I'd love to hear from you! (hint, hint...**Please Review!** thank you!) 


	2. Episode 2

A/N: Thank you to everybody who reviewed! You have no idea how happy you make my pathetic, 24-obsessed self!

I also realized that I had neglected to add a disclaimer to my first epidose, so here it is:

Disclaimer: If I owned 24, would I be writing fanfics? No, I'd be writing the show. 24 belongs to FOX and some other brillant people. Tragically not me.

Enjoy!

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Day 6

The following takes place from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

"I've got her." The tall man with dark hair and pale blue eyes spoke into his black cell phone.

"Good job Schmidt." The man on the other end responded in German, "it shouldn't be too long until Bauer realizes that his precious Audrey is missing. With Bauer out of the way, we have a clear shot at the water treatment facilities of Los Angeles."

"OK boss, my men are standing ready at the entrances for Bauer and his team. _Auf Wiedersehen_. Good bye." The man called Schmidt hung up and walked back over to Chloe and her guard.

"Any sign of Bauer?" Schmidt asked the guard who sat hunched over his laptop. The guard slowly checked the various security cameras in the building.

"No, he's not here yet."

"You know," Chloe spoke up, "you could be a lot more efficient and see all the views at once as well as a heat sensitive schematic if you—" Chloe stopped quickly and swallowed. She had almost forgotten that she was speaking to the men who were trying to kidnap Jack Bauer, "uuuhhh…never mind." She finished lamely. Both of the men were staring at her like she'd grown an extra head. She hoped that they would let it go. Thankfully they did, although Chloe wasn't sure it was out of respect to her obvious embarrassment or due to the fact that they didn't yet understand enough English to comprehend the slurred, rushed mess that was coming out of her mouth. Schmidt stalked away to check up on the men stationed at every conceivable entrance.

The guard turned to look at Chloe, and she noticed his dark blue eyes, curly dark hair, and round, youthful face. He didn't look like he had graduated from high school, although she thought he probably had, because he spoke English so well. Better, in fact, than any of the men.

"What's your name?" she asked, not sure if he would tell her.

"Hans," he replied, "Hans VonKreis." He replied. He sure is new to this business, she thought, he doesn't even know not to talk to hostages. Or maybe he just feels bad for me. She started to think of ways she could manipulate him to warn Jack. She wondered if she could convince him to help her.

**Commercial Break**

Audrey pursed her lips as she looked over at Chloe's still-unused workstation. She saw Jack out of the corner of her eye, and she wondered if he had notified the police department yet. It had been over an hour since work began, and she still wasn't there.

"Jack—" Audrey rushed up to him.

"Hey, Audrey, is Chloe still not here?" Jack asked, looking worried. Audrey shook her head. Jack assumed the worst and strode quickly to the nearest telephone. He spoke hurriedly into the phone, listened for a few moments, and replaced the receiver. He turned to Audrey, his face almost grey with agitation.

"LAPD found her car. It's overturned in a ditch a few miles away from here. There's no sign of her anywhere near it, though. I'm going to find her." As he talked he pulled off his jacket and slipped a bullet proof vest over his shirt. "Because Chloe's not here, I'll need you to keep in touch with me and send me any relevant information to my PDA." Before Jack stepped through the door he glanced at Audrey and their eyes met. They were both thinking the same thing: Chloe was the only person they both trusted; they couldn't, and wouldn't, let anything happen to her.

Audrey headed back to her workstation to await further instructions from Jack.

**Commercial Break**

Chloe O'Brian had been thinking a lot about the fact that the terrorists seemed to think she was Audrey Raines. After examining the pros and cons from various angles, she had finally decided that this was a good thing. Primarily because this meant that the real Audrey was safe. Chloe was glad; she figured that Audrey had gone through enough a few years ago when she and her father had been kidnapped. She also had realized that this meant she, and CTU, knew something these terrorists didn't, although she had to admit she couldn't see how knowing this was particularly helpful.

And she though about Jack, and she wondered if he was out looking for her. If he was, he was sure to find some leads soon. She had overheard two of her captors talking about the clues they had "left" with her car, to ensure that Jack found the right place. If Chloe had been given a primitive computer, or even a light bulb, she was sure that she could have programmed it to tell Jack not to come rescue her. But as it was, all Chloe had was ropes around her ankles and wrists, thankfully the gag had been taken out when they realized that Chloe was not the screaming type. She also had a young and inexperienced guard with a laptop. They must have really underestimated her, to give her the guard with the least amount of experience, but she could use this to her advantage. She slowly shifted her weight until she had unsteadily toppled forward, off balance because of the restriction on her wrists and ankles. "Oh! Hans!" she cried out. Hans looked up from his laptop and unlocked the door of her prison. He stepped inside and gently propped her up against the wall again. She decided to try the flirting angle, on the theory that no young man could resist a young woman.

"Hans?" she asked, batting her eyelashes a little. If she got out of this alive, she sincerely hoped that she would never have to bat her eyelashes again. It made her feel stupid and she had a phobia of people thinking she was dumb or incompetent. It made her nauseous.

"Do you think that you could take the bonds off my wrists for just one minute? Oh please?" Apparently this particular young man could resist her. She thought about what Kim would do in this situation, but for some reason she kept having a mental image of a cougar.

He went back to his computer and watched the views with marginal interest. She wondered how he had gotten into this job. She studied his profile. He looked worried. Despite what the world seemed to think, Chloe was pretty good on picking up on other peoples' emotions. But, the fact that she generally disregarded them and said what she thought never seemed to help. She wondered if she could use Hans's particular weakness to her benefit.

**Commercial Break**

"Audrey, I've got something." A staticky version of Jack voice came over Audrey's headset, "the LAPD just sent me an address on my PDA. They found some clues around Chloe's car which all lead to this building. I'm sending you the address. Can you pull up all possible satellite feeds and information on this building?"

"Sure." Audrey replied, happy for a task. She had never been one to be idle in the face of an emergency, but for the last few minutes, she had been imagining all the worst-case scenarios for Chloe's kidnapping.

"All right, I've got it." Audrey told Jack a few minutes later, "I'm uploading it to your PDA. From what I can see, it looks like there are two people guarding her."

"That's odd," Jack said with a frown, "they went to all that trouble to kidnap her and there are only two people guarding her? That doesn't make sense. Something doesn't add up Audrey."

"I know." Audrey sounded thoughtful, "Jack?" she said after a moment, "Jack, do you think you're walking into a trap, and, and there might be more people hidden waiting to ambush you when you come in?" Audrey was voicing the very fear Jack had thought. There was silence on the line as they both thought about the danger that Jack was putting himself in.

"Jack?" Audrey asked again, "Maybe you should come back to CTU and wait for Curtis and his team, and come up with a plan?"

"No! What if Chloe is scared or hurt?" Jack asked, sounding uncharacteristically harsh, "I owe it to her to try to get to her, trap or no trap! I'm just parking—"

"I know," Audrey said, "I see you."

"Good." Jack said, "I'm going in."

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Please review! Thank you! 


	3. Episode 3

**  
Day 6 Episode 3**

The following takes place from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

Jack positioned himself flat against the wall and reached for the door knob into the building.

"Jack stop!" Jack heard Audrey's urgent voice in his ear bud and froze, "Jack, I've repositioned the satellite and I can see more men waiting immediately inside and surrounding that door!"

"Can you see any alternate entrance that is unguarded?" Jack asked.

"Let me look," Audrey alternately repositioned the satellite and zoomed in on entrances, "No, Jack they're all heavily guarded. You're walking into a trap." Jack frowned upon hearing this and headed back to his car so he would not be seen while he made a plan.

"Jack?" Audrey asked hesitantly, "I'm sorry, but I think that you should come back and take Curtis and assemble a team and a plan."

"But—"

"I know you want to get to Chloe," Audrey began as Jack interrupted, "I want to rescue her as much as you do, but you know you won't be of any use to her captured or killed." There was silence on Jack's end of the line. Jack never liked having to back away or retreat from a hostage situation, even if just until a better plan could be formed. And he thought of Chloe and the last time she had been in the field. Plainly put, she did better in front of a computer than she did in front of a gun.

"OK," he finally relented, "I'm coming back. Brief Curtis."

**Commercial Break**

"How old are you?" Chloe asked Hans. She wasn't sure if he would answer, but she had a plan forming the back of her mind. If she could get Hans and his laptop to help her, they could warn Jack and stop whatever the terrorists were planning. To her, Hans didn't seem like a hardened terrorist, and she wondered how he became involved with the other men.

"I'm 17." It took Hans a long time to answer, as if he was deciding what the right response was, or whether to answer at all. Chloe choked. She'd never imagined that he was _that_ young.

"How did you get involved with this…this…group?" Chloe asked gently. She was almost scared to hear the answer. She hadn't wanted to call them terrorists, because, in her experience, most terrorists did not think they were terrorists, but patriots.

Hans narrowed his dark blue eyes. He seemed to be deciding whether or not he should trust her. Finally he must have decided to trust her because he started to talk.

"My father worked with these men. He would come home late at night, or sometimes not at all. I don't know if my mother knew what he did for a living, but he made money, and that was all that was important. One day he came home past midnight and woke me up." Hans said, staring at his hands which had clenched into fists, "He was bleeding from what looked like a gunshot wound. I had always wondered what he did, but I had never dared to ask. That night was the first time I learned anything about what he did. He took me out into the darkened yard, and we sat under a tall tree. He told me that he was going to die," Han stopped when Chloe gasped, but she motioned for him to continue, "Yeah, just like that: 'Hans, son, I'm going to die.' Anyway, he gave me a briefcase and a phone number and he said I should call it and the owner of the cell phone would know what to do. So I brought him back inside, and he died, and we told the neighbors and my younger siblings that he had been sick. I think my mother knew how he had really died though."

"What was in the briefcase?" Chloe asked. It was rare that she said so many words without a hint of sarcasm, but she really was interested in what she was hearing.

"The suitcase?" Hans asked, "Well I didn't open it at first, or call that number, because I didn't want any part in my father's business. I'd gone to school, learned English pretty well, and planned on moving to America. I didn't want any part in my father's work, which I thought was something like a German mafia."

"What changed your mind? I mean, you're obviously well educated because your English is good, so you could have pursued another line of work, but you're here now holding me hostage, so obviously something happened." Chloe said.

"My mother got sick." Hans said simply, "The doctors in my small village had no idea what it was. Although we have free healthcare in Germany, she was put on the bottom of a very long waiting list. I knew she would die before she reached the top. I decided to make some money so I could afford to bring her to America or pay for her to see a private doctor. I needed to make some money quick, so, I called the number and, well, you can probably figure out the rest. As for the briefcase, it held my father's guns."

"Gosh," Chloe said, "you must feel terrible because you didn't want to be here to begin with because you thought you were a better man than that, but then your mother got sick and now you're killing thousands of innocent people and Jack Bauer to save her."

"Yes," Hans said directly, which surprised her, because people generally just cringed or yelled at her whenever she was bluntly honest, "but I had no other option." He continued.

"I have another option." Chloe offered.

**Commercial Break**

"So if we send some men in that door as decoys, hopefully we can pull some of the men off this door and you and I as well as the rest of our team can overpower them and get inside." Curtis pointed to the map while he talked, and then looked into Jack's face.

"All right, and if the decoys don't work, we're going in anyway. Understood? And no one, under any circumstance is to hit Chloe. The hostage is our first priority here, ok?" Jack barked.

"Jack, calm down. We all value Chloe as much as you do. No of us are going to harm Chloe or put her in harms way." Curtis turned to the assembled team after talking to Jack. "Is everyone clear on the plan? All right, let's move out. All teams await instructions from Bauer."

"Jack?" Audrey had been listening to Curtis brief Jack and his team, and she ran up to Jack as he was about to leave. "Be careful, Jack. I still think you're walking into a trap."

"I'll be fine." He calmly assured her as he slipped his canvas messenger bag over his head.

**Commercial Break**

"…so when Jack Bauer comes, he'll get both of us out, and the government can pay for flying your mother into one of the best hospitals in the nation, because you helped CTU." Chloe finished outlining her plan.

"But if Schmidt finds out, he'll tell the boss and they'll kill me. Then, I'll never be able to help my mother." Hans expressed his concern.

Chloe frowned. She hated when people thought she was stupid. "I'm really good with computers," she modestly assured Hans, "believe me, I'm better than all the techies here put together, if you let me do my thing, there's no way anyone will ever find out. Until Jack Bauer comes, that is. Believe me, they won't know what hit them."

Hans VonKreis looked at her for a long time, then he looked at the wall, then back at her. Several minutes later he had decided.

"I don't know why I trust you, but I do." Chloe was surprised at his statement. Hardly anyone trusted her immediately. Except Jack, and eventually Audrey, which was why Chloe was so loyal to them.

"So you'll do it?" Chloe had a hard time keeping a smile off her face as she reached for his laptop. The instant the computer was in her hands she was back in control.

"Keep a look out." She ordered Hans. "The instant you see anyone coming, turn your back to them and grab the laptop. But make it look like you're hitting me or something."

"I would never hit you." Hans said, sounding shocked.

"I know!" Chloe hissed impatiently, "but _pretend_."

Chloe got to work with the laptop. In a matter of minutes she had hacked into the CTU network, using her own passwords of course. There would be no way for someone with out her passwords to hack in, she thought proudly. As she was hacking in, she made mental notes about some of the possible weaknesses in the system she had created. Before long she had forged a connection with Jack's PDA.

_**CO**: jack? it's chloe_

_**JB**: chloe?_ What the hell! Jack thought in astonishment.

_**JB**: how…_

_**CO**: i've convinced one of my captors to help me. i'm using his laptop_

_**JB**: there are people surrounding all the entrances. can you help me get in?_

_**CO**: yes, do you have a schematic of the building or satellite feeds?_

_**JB**: both_

_**CO**: we'll create a diversion and free up the northwest door._

_**JB**: i'm about two minutes out._

_**CO**: let me get to work._

Chloe handed the computer back to Hans and told him that they needed a diversion to free up the northwest door. Hans thought for a moment.

"Stay here," he commanded, "I'll leave my cell phone on vibrate in your pocket, I'll use my radio to call the cell phone and when I do, call Bauer and tell him it is safe to come in." He handed her his cell phone and loosely re-tied her hands. Chloe nodded and Hans set off.

In a darkened room at the back of the building where Chloe was being held hostage, two men removed their ear buds. The looked at each other and picked up their guns. They had heard enough.

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A/N: Just a little note about the Chloe/ Jack transaction from her laptop to his PDA: CO and JB are obviously thier intials. The italicized text is when they're typing to each other. 

I really like to hear you're thoughts and comments. HINT, HINT Please, please, please author is down on knees begging please, please, please, review. (Did I mention that I think you should review?) :)


	4. Episode 4

**A/N**: I am sorry that it took so long for me to post this episode. Once a week will probably be the best I will ever be able to do. Anyway, thank you my faithful readers and reviewers. Once again, I would be thrilled to get more (at least 5) reviews!

**Basicmoista**: Thank you! I hadn't realized I had that discrepancy. If you look back to the first episode, I've made a few changes there so that the story is now more logical. Thanks again for your great reviews!

**

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Day 6 Episode 4**

**The following takes place from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM**

Chloe O'Brian tried to wiggle her toes and found that she couldn't. In fact, she couldn't feel her fingers or toes after several hours of having cords around her wrists and ankles. Her legs felt tingly, stiff, and weak from sitting in the same position for some time. Luckily, though, when Hans had re-tied her hands after she had used his computer, he tied her wrists in front of her so she could still work. His laptop was in reach, and she couldn't resist the comforting feel of the keys. She dragged the laptop toward her and quickly scanned all the programs and files on his hard drive. There was a lot of information on his computer. There were a lot of little things too, and she wondered if they were stored anywhere else besides his computer. She'd wanted to see if she could figure out what the terrorists were planning, but most of it was written in German. Oh well. She was about to put the computer down when a flicker of movement caught her eye. She hastily, but quietly, shut the laptop and shoved it towards Hans's empty chair. She lowered her eyelids enough so it looked like she had fallen asleep, but open enough that she could still see what was going on. Through her partially closed eyelids, she saw two men sneak up behind Hans's chair.

"He's not here." The first man muttered to his partner. Chloe wasn't sure why he was suddenly so interested in Hans's position. But Chloe wasn't the top analyst at CTU for nothing, and she soon had several theories forming in her head, none of which looked very good for Hans. The two men looked at each other as if their worst suspicions had been confirmed. Quietly, the two men pulled pistols from holsters under their jackets, and sneaked off the same way she had once seen Jack do. Only, Jack was better she subconsciously reminded herself. Suddenly it all fell into place.

"Wait!" Chloe cried. The two men turned. She needed to buy Hans more time.

"What?" one of the men asked.

At the same time the other one said, "We'll be back. You can talk later." The two men stared at each other, as if trying to decide whether or not to stop. Chloe prayed they would. Luck, which had eluded her for most of the day, now seemed to be on her side.

"Well?" the taller man growled. Chloe froze, she hadn't actually thought about what she was going to say. The way she saw it, there was only one card she could play.

"I'm not Audrey Raines."

**Commercial Break**

Jack and Curtis pulled into a parking lot about a quarter mile away from the warehouse. Four black SUV's with shaded windows pulled in right after them. Jack shoved open the door, got out and walked around to the trunk. Curtis got out as well and joined him. Both men slipped on their ear buds and tested them.

"Audrey? Can you hear me?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Audrey replied, sounding calmer than she felt.

"Okay, do you have satellite feeds or heat sensitive schematics on the building?"

"Almost." Audrey said, and Jack could hear frantic typing the background. He couldn't help comparing her with Chloe, with whom he worked as a seamless team. Not only would Chloe already would have had the feeds up, and she would have been three steps ahead of him.

"All right, I've got it."

"Is the northwest entrance cleared?" he asked wondering if this German that Chloe had convinced was trustworthy. Given her usual amount social intelligence, he wondered briefly how she had managed to convince this guy without offending him off the face of this earth. Maybe though, he reflected, it was the same way she got him to trust her so well.

"Yes."

"Good," he told her. He turned to Curtis and his men. Curtis had laid a schematic of the building on the hood of one of the SUV's. Jack ran over the plan one more time, until he was sure that everyone understood. Because the building was so well guarded, the success of the mission depended on every agent carrying out their part perfectly.

"Audrey, are you ready?" Jack checked. _Every agent _included the ones on the computers too. Although Jack trusted Audrey, he was far more comfortable with Chloe behind a computer than Audrey.

"I'm ready."

"Okay, all we're waiting for now is a signal from Chloe."

**Commercial Break**

"You're not Audrey Raines?" the taller man echoed, "then, who are you?"

"A friend of hers," she thought about how she could work Hans into it, "uuuhhh, Hans found this out, and he was going to use me to, uuummm, trap the real Audrey. Because we were friends, so he was going to make me lure her in." Chloe was lying through her teeth, and she didn't think she was very good at it.

"Where is he now?" the shorter man asked.

"Oh, uuuhhh, he had to go prepare some stuff." She said. To her ears it sounded more like a question, but the men seemed to believe it.

"Well, that sounds good," he continued, "Hans seems very competent. We'll just go back and watch for Bauer." He turned to leave, and before Chloe could process what was happening, he whipped around, pulling a gun from his coat. He leaned toward Chloe and hissed, "Yeah, right. You little liar."

Chloe knew what he was going to do an instant before he did it. But, her hands and feet were bound, so she had no way to prevent it. The man straightened up and slammed the handle his gun hard into the back of her head. She slumped forward, unconscious.

**Commercial Break**

"There's still no word from Chloe. Maybe she's in trouble and can't send a message." Jack told Audrey, "is the northwest door still unguarded?"

"Yes, but…Jack, I don't like this."

"Damnit, Audrey! I don't like this either, but it's Chloe in there, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get to her! Are you going to work with me or not?" Jack exploded. He turned to Curtis and his men and signaled for them to head to the northwest corner.

"I'm with you, Jack. I'll always be behind you." Audrey assured him.

"I'm going in."

Hans returned to Chloe's cell to find her slumped over, with a large bruise forming on the back of her head. Hans quickly looked up and scanned the area for any sign of movement. He was pretty sure that Chloe wouldn't give him away, but she hadn't conked herself on the back of the head either, so Hans knew to be careful. He wondered when Jack Bauer was going to come. Chloe always spoke with such pride when she said his name. She didn't know it, but Hans had noticed that her whole tone and attitude changed when she talked about Jack. She became more confident and calm. It was clear that she placed total trust in him. He looked down at her still features. Even while she was unconscious, she was frowning.

With his back pressed to the wall, Jack stretched out his arm and pushed open the door. There was no one behind it. Jack and Curtis led their teams into the building. _Bam, bam, bam_. Caught by surprise, the German terrorists whirled around and returned the shots. The other agents fanned out and tried to give Jack sometime to get in to the main part of the building where Chloe was being held.

"Jack! On your left!" Curtis yelled from where he was fighting. Jack turned to his left and shot the terrorist who had attempted to shoot him from behind a large box. Jack moved on as quickly as he could.

"We're in." Jack whispered to Audrey as he ran. Although Jack could not see it, Audrey's hand was clenched so hard around her desk that her knuckles had turned white.

Hans heard the first shots and knew that Jack Bauer had arrived. He stood back and watched as his fellow Germans ran towards the fight. The shots came closer and closer. He looked down at Chloe. He couldn't just leave her there, in the confusion of the firefight, she'd get shot. So, he scooped her up and made for an exit which was now unguarded. Many of the Germans had left their positions at the doors to go join the fight. He tightened his grip on Chloe and ran for the door.

"Hey you! STOP!" Jack bellowed. Swiftly, he slid his gun into his holster and sprinted toward the man carrying Chloe. He was prepared to tackle him if he needed to. Jack could hear the firefight behind him and prepared to spring. But before his feet had left the floor, a shot was fired right behind him.

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Just one more plea for reviews! Thanks in advance! 


	5. Episode 5

**Disclaimer: Do not own 24 blah blah blah  
**I struggled a lot with this chapter, which is why it took me so long to post. Please tell me what you think of the chapter, and the story in general.  
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**Day 6 Episode 5**

**The following takes place from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM**

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Hans, still carrying Chloe, fell forward, as Jack leapt towards him. Jack pulled the man off Chloe without registering that he was dead. Her eyes were closed, and her wrists and ankles were bound. He pulled her out of the way, behind some filing cabinets, and slapped her quickly on the face and untied her bonds. The sudden impact had woken her, and she opened her eyes, looking dazed.

"Jack," she asked numbly, "they thought you would come because they thought I was Audrey."

Jack stopped, confused, and raised his eyebrows. Jack didn't know what to say, and an awkward silence grew between them. Realizing that she was still weakly propped up against a dusty cardboard box, he extended his hand toward her.

"Can you walk?" Jack asked Chloe. Silently, Chloe nodded. He helped her to her feet and peered out from behind the filing cabinet.

"Coast is clear." He whispered. Tentatively Chloe stepped out behind him. And then she saw Hans. A look of surprise was eternally frozen on his round, youthful face. Her knees gave out, and she would have fallen if Jack hadn't grabbed her at the last moment. Deciding that she was unfit to walk by herself, Jack slung her unceremoniously over his shoulder and ran toward the door.

"Hurry, hurry!" Schmidt whispered anxiously, glancing over his shoulder at the distant fight. His partner, an older and more experienced man kept calmly putting papers in his briefcase. His ice blue eyes swept over the mess surrounding the computer.

"I'll destroy the files here, you go get Hans's laptop. I saw it by his chair." He said in his same calm, detached manner.

"OK, Andre." Schmidt sped off as Andre Kreis leaned toward the computer.

**Commercial Break**

Chloe couldn't stop shaking. Inwardly, she cursed herself for doing so. She hated to show any signs of physical or mental weakness. She tensed up her muscles to try to stop her trembling. Holding her in place with both his arms, Jack used his foot to kick open the door. He burst out into the bright sunlight, causing him to squint for a moment, until his eyes adjusted from the darkened interior of the warehouse. He spotted Agent Waters standing a little ways off, and beckoned him over. Jack set Chloe down and looked her in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "are you cold?" He pulled off his grey jacket, exposing his black bulletproof vest, and put it around her shoulders.

"I'm just…" But apparently Chloe couldn't think of what she was, so she just said, "No, I'm fine." But she didn't remove his jacket.

Jack turned and looked up as Agent Waters came over. " James," he said, "take Chloe over to the SUV's. Give her any medical attention that she needs. Keep her safe. I'm going back in."

"I'm fine!" Chloe snapped as Agent Waters reached for her. "Jack? Don't you want me to run comm?" She asked.

"I've got Audrey on that." Jack replied.

"Oh." Chloe said. An awkward moment followed, but Jack brushed it aside, and Chloe watched as he ran back into the building.

Schmidt grabbed the laptop and darted back to the control room in the rear of the building. Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched. As he left, Jack Bauer slipped into the shadow of the wall and followed him to the back. Though he tried to walk as softly as possible, Jack worried that his boots echoed too loudly in the now silent warehouse. Twice, Schmidt stopped abruptly and turned around, the second time pulling out his gun. The fight in the rest of the warehouse seemed to be over, and an unnatural silence fell over the place. He followed Schmidt down a winding hallway to the back of the warehouse. Johann Schmidt pushed open the door to the control room and turned away to hand Andre Kreis the laptop. In that split second, Jack darted in the door and quickly hid behind a cluster of shelves filled with boxes, which effectively hid him from the rest of the room. Schmidt closed the door and looked at his accomplice.

"Are you ready yet?" Johann asked.

"Almost." Andre replied stuffing a few more papers, then the laptop, into his bag.

"You have all the receipts? They clearly said they didn't want to be implicated—"

"Don't worry about it," Andre replied, "if they do find anything, it will not be enough for them to even grasp the idea of what we're going to do. All right…let's go!"

Before they could even touch the door handle, Jack leaped into sight and fired two shots. He was not aiming to kill, but his shots produced the desired effect: both men froze.

"Put your hands where I can see them," Jack growled from behind the behind the bookcases. The two men reluctantly raised their hands above their heads. But Jack hadn't counted on the instability of the shelves. Jack was about to step out from behind the shelves when Andre Kreis yelled something in German. Before Jack had time to react, they'd shoved the shelves in towards him. Heavy boxes and heavier wood and metal shelves clattered down on him. The Germans dashed from the room, throwing the switch as they left, and plunging a battered Jack into complete darkness. He heard the lock click behind them and swore.

**Commercial Break**

"Jack? Jack!" Audrey asked worriedly. She received only silence as an answer. She turned to the closest person to her; a new computer techie named Simon, and snapped at him to bring up as many satellite feeds as possible.

"All right, ma'am," he said in his slow, deep, and calming voice, "shall I get Mr. Buchanan or Ms. Hayes on the line?" He asked

"Yes," she said distractedly, "and, call me Audrey."

"Yes, ma—I mean…Audrey," He nodded and reached for the handle of the receiver, then quickly put it down. Hearing this, Audrey turned from her computer to Simon.

"Here she comes," he said, pointing toward the stairs. Karen Hayes was indeed descending the stairs from her office on the second level. Audrey wasn't sure whether she trusted Karen, but she was sure that she would rather have talked to Bill Buchanan. He, at least, would have understood where she was coming from. But time was critical for Jack, so she couldn't pick and choose.

Karen Hayes had been made co-director of CTU after the way she had handled the Logan issue. To Audrey's surprise, she and Buchanan got on famously, directing CTU as a seamless unit. She was now walking towards Audrey with her usual kind expression on her face.

"I just heard a clatter in the background, and now Jack isn't responding." Audrey said.

Calm as usual, Karen went through all the possibilities, saying that Jack might have been in a situation where he couldn't talk.

"No," Audrey said, "He would have tapped the ear but to let me know that he was okay."

"Well then," Karen said, picking up a headset, "Agent Bauer? Can you hear me?"

**Commercial Break**

Chloe sat shivering in the SUV's. She wasn't sure why she was still shaking. It wasn't like this was her first time out in the field, granted though, she hadn't enjoyed herself immensely last time she was. She heard a cell phone near her ringing, and, out of habit, picked it up.

"O'Brian," she was startled to hear how tired she sounded.

"Chloe?" It was Karen Hayes.

"Yes?" Chloe said stiffly. She still hadn't forgiven Karen for her numerous grievances during the Logan affair, most of which had to do with not believing Jack.

"How are you holding up?" She asked kindly. It bothered Chloe that she was always so nice. It made her harder to hold a grudge against.

"Fine." Chloe replied, "Why are you calling?"

"We're trying to contact Jack? Do you know where he is?"

"He went back into the warehouse. He was trying to catch some of the Germans. That was about half an hour ago. I haven't seen him since." Try as she might, she couldn't hold a grudge at Jack's expense.

"Oh…I'll call you back." Karen hung up

Jack Bauer vainly attempted to shift some of the boxes which were pinning him down. After much painful squirming, he managed to extricate himself from the mess. Shaking his arms out, he quietly stepped into the main warehouse. A terrorist was hunched over a computer, making last minute file transfers. Jack took aim, but before he could shoot, the young man turned around to check to door to the control room. There was something familiar about that face.

"Spenser?" he gasped.

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You guys probably know my plea by heart now...Please Review! I struggled with this chapter, so please tell me what you thought. Thanks! 


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